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146 of 146 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Pictures, Cheap Build., May 30, 2006
This review is from: Kodak Easyshare C643 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom (Electronics)
The Kodak C643 is a "small" point and shoot. It's size will let you fit it in your shirt pocket, but it can be a little too heavy to carry there, so get a small case.
Battery life is "EXCELLENT" with 2300ma (KODAK Brand)rechargeables. I have taken 20 mins of video and 30 pictures with the screen on, and the battery light is still green. I took 41 flash photos in a row on a fresh charge and the battery light was still green! That is pretty darn good for a camera with only two batteries! I haven't yet had to put in fresh batteries during a day of shooting family photos and movies.
The movie mode is superb ( I no longer use my old camcorder) and has good sound capture. Outdoor movies look great, but your inside movies will need some good lighting to obtain adequate quality (remember, it has no camera light like your camcorder.) Movies are recorded in Quicktime (mov) format. If you want to transfer them to dvd for tv viewing, you will need to convert them since most dvd players don't support that format. Kodak software does an avi conversion, but it turned out very poor. Upgrading to Quicktime Pro seems to be the easiest way to make the conversion to other formats. (about $29). Kodak software needs more work. The mov to avi conversion is ridiculous. Very basic control over photo editing. More focused on printing than digital storage.
The photos, however, are stunning. Great Kodak picture color.
The viewfinder is slightly offset,and doesn't fully represent what you will get in your photo.
The C643 has some problems with autofocus when doing macro shots.
I had extreme difficulty locking in doing closeups (less than 2ft).
The camera has a "handshake" logo that pops up when the camera isn't steady enough. Steady photography seems to be an issue with all small point and shoot cameras that use 3x plus zoom. You have to make sure to either use a tripod or rest the camera or your hand against something to obtain good shots in high zoom. All cameras with zoom have that issue unless there is some fancy image stabilization circuity ( which can add another hundred or so bucks to the price.)
The camera build is a little cheap. I do not like the quality of the card door or battery compartment door. The usb cable is a little difficult to plug in.
The menu is easy, the screen is very big and useful unless the summer sun is shinning directly into it. The zoom is fluid, and with 6.1mp, even the digital zoom is sharp.
I like the shutter Long Term Exposure mode. It will allow you to open the shutter for up to 4 secs. That can get you some real fun shots at night!
If you get this camera, I recommend getting the Kodak camera dock. It not only comes with two rechargeable batteries, but will make transfers and recharging simpler, and save wear and tear on the cheap doors. Also get a 1GB card, because you will end up taking a lot of video with this camera.
NOTE TO THOSE HAVING CAMERA PROBLEMS......USE THE KODAK RECHARGEABLE BATTERY RECOMMENDED FOR THIS UNIT. You will only meet with grief if you try to use a standard alkaline battery. They do not provide the correct amount of current capacity needed and will cause lockups, unexpectant shutdowns, etc. Even other brand name rechargeables may cause issues. Before you take the camera back to the store, purchase the Kodak battery pack with the recharger kit.
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104 of 105 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality far exceeds the price!, May 19, 2006
This review is from: Kodak Easyshare C643 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom (Electronics)
All I can say is WOW!
We're going to Alaska in July. We have a 2 year old Fujifilm S3000 3.2 mega pixel already, but after much deliberation we decided to indulge ourselves and purchase the Kodak C643 in addition to a new digital camcorder to tape our four boys during our excursions.
I've played around with it for 2 weeks and feel I'm qualified now to review it.
PROS:
The LCD screen is HUGE! I've saved so much time being able to preview photos in detail and delete off the bad ones immediately instead of downloading them onto my laptop to review and delete. Great time saver! The built in memory is large enough that we can use it now while we're still pricing out 1g or 2g SD cards.
It took about 5 minutes to get the hang of the menu, which is incredibly easy to use. The controls buttons are large enough for my hands, and are far enough apart as to not hit another accidentally.
Camera cropping is something I was unfamiliar with, but I've already come to love it. You can easily adjust the white balance and ISO speed manually.
The burst feature takes four shots in 2 seconds which is impressive. (Very important when trying to capture birthday candle blowing!)
The sepia and B/W effects are realistic and by far my favorites.
I've played around with the long time exposure feature and gotten some REALLY neat effects.
It's lightweight and small enough to fit in my purse or pocket but large enough that even my slightly shaky hands are able to take sharp photos. The photo clarity is amazing. Colors are vibrant and rich. The zoom moves rapidly. Flash is bright, with multiple flash options to chose from.
The slide show feature lets me show the kids the photos I've taken automatically without worrying about them accidentally deleting every photo on the memory card. (Been there, cried about that!) It also has an UNDO DELETE feature. I guess I don't need to say anything more about that, do I?
I've taken a few movies and they've come out surprisingly well, although I confess haven't used that feature much since I've also been playing around with my new digital camcorder.
CONS:
The user guide STINKS! The book is nice and fat but that's only because it includes the information in three languages. It touches on each feature the camera offers, but so briefly that a first time user wouldn't have enough confidence in the information to utilize them properly without fearing irreparable consequences. Don't let this scare you! Play around with the camera! If you screw up, just readjust the levels back to AUTO, and start over again!
This camera is absolutely worth more than what we paid!
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Problems with these cameras, August 7, 2006
This review is from: Kodak Easyshare C643 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom (Electronics)
bought mine at target. It is great when it works.. however I am currently returning my second one.. they lock up and completely stop responding. Target said there is a problem with the camera and they have had "loads of returns". I would suggest that until this is fixed, buy a different camera!
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